Q&A with #PNR Author Coreene Callahan (& W*n a Dragonfury novel)

First off, here are today’s blog appearances for the ongoing RIVER ROAD virtual tour! Details on tour prizes can be found in the righthand column.

***I’m being interviewed at VBOOK Life today, spilling info on me you couldn’t find on a Google search. Enter the Rafflecopter prize here for the eReader and tour prizes; comment for a chance at the $25 gift card and a mystery book prize.

*** River Road is being reviewed today at the Mother/Gamer/Writer blog. You can comment here to be entered for the $25 gift card and today’s mystery book prize.

Now! Today, I’m excited to welcome Susannah Sandlin’s fellow Montlake author Coreene Callahan, who has a hot paranormal series out, the Dragonfury series. The third book, Fury of Seduction, came out last week, following Fury of Fire and Fury of Ice. You can read more about Coreene, her Dragonfury series (including an excerpt from the newest book), and her new Circle of Seven series at her website.

ABOUT FURY OF SEDUCTION: Successful landscape designer Tania Solares prides herself on living by her own terms, relying on no man to provide for her. But her carefully controlled life takes a turn for the extraordinary when her inquiry into the disappearance of her best friend thrusts her between two warring factions of dragon-shifters. Suddenly Tania’s survival depends on Mac, a newly initiated dragon-warrior who will break every rule to keep her safe….Now that Tania knows the truth about Dragonkind, returning to her old life is too grave a risk. Ivar, leader of the Razorbacks, plots to decimate the human race, and Tania is just the tool he needs. Despite the danger, Mac cannot deny her a choice: Trade the independence she’s fought so hard to achieve for safety in a magical world, or turn her back on the man she’s grown to love in order to reclaim a freedom that might not last? It is an impossible choice. And yet a sacrifice must be made…

Welcome, Coreene!

Hi All! A huge thanks to Suzanne for having me as a guest on Preternatura today. I’m jazzed that I get to hang out with you and chat about books, the writing life and all things story!

Give us the “elevator pitch” for your latest work?

CC: FURY OF SEDUCTION (Dragonfury series, book 3) is about redemption, second chances, and one woman’s fight to survive in an unforgiving world. Caught between warring factions of Dragonkind and pulled from harm’s way in the nick of time, she is left with a terrible choice: forsake her hard-won independence and reclaim the life she loves or abandon the dragon-shifter who now holds her heart. I’ve also got a new paranormal historical series on the go as well. KNIGHT AWAKENED, the first book in my Circle of Seven series, will be released on December 4^th, 2012.

What is your favorite scene in the book?

CC: Oh, there are so many! Tania and Mac really lit up the page, but I guess if I really had to choose…The battle scene when Mac drops in and saves Tania’s life (by driving her off a bridge!) is probably my favorite. Her reaction was so much fun to write.

Hardest scene you’ve ever written:

CC: Hmm…that is a hard one.  But I have to say that the most difficult scene I’ve ever written takes place in KNIGHT AWAKENED (Circle of Seven series, book 1). One of my characters loses his best friend under tragic circumstances. I cried the entire time I wrote that scene.

 

What’s on your nightstand or top of your TBR pile?

CC: My TBR pile is ridiculous! I keep meaning to put a dent in it, but instead end up piling more on top. There are just so many good books and not enough time!  Now I’m also stockpiling them on my Kindle, which just feeds my story obsession.

Favorite book when you were a child:

CC: I loved The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Hands down, my favorite from childhood, although, I started reading The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien fairly early on as well.

Your five favorite authors:

CC:  C.S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Stephen King, Karen Rose. I also really enjoy James Patteron’s Alex Cross novels and Robert Ludlum Bourne series.

Book you've faked reading:

CC: The Hunger Games (*Suzanne is laughing because she hasn’t read them either.*)

Book you're an evangelist for:

CC: Too Good To Be True by Kristan Higgins. It’s oh, so good. I especially LOVE the scene when the heroine meets the hero for the first time. Thinking he’s a thief, she bashes him over the head with a field hockey stick!

Book you've bought for the cover:

CC: Dragonlogy. As you can well imagine, I couldn’t resist the Dragon on the front cover!

Book that changed your life:

CC: Johanna Lindsey’s Defy Not the Heart. I loved that book so much I read and reread it until the pages thinned and the cover was held together by nothing but Scotch tape. If not for that book, I wouldn’t have discovered the romance genre, never mind started writing stories with romance in them.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

CC: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I read it as a teenager, and it changed the way I viewed storytelling, propelling my passion for writing to the new levels. After reading The Catcher in the Rye, I wrote my first novel. Granted, it wasn’t very good, but it opened me up to the possibility of writing stories of my own.

Favorite book about books or writing:

CC: Hooked by Les Edgerton. Like all the best things in life, this book came along when I least expected, but needed it the most. HOOKED occupies premium real estate on the bookshelf in my postage stamp of an office and always will.

What’s next?

CC: Well, it’s been a busy year for me, but I’m really excited about my upcoming paranormal historical release, KNIGHT AWAKENED on December 4^th.  Just weeks away! Also, I’m currently writing the fourth book in the Dragonfury series, FURY OF DESIRE, to be released in the summer of 2013.

Thanks so much for inviting me to visit today. I had a blast answering all your questions! For more information about the Dragonfury Novels and my Circle of Seven series, please visit my website or stop by my Facebook author page. I always love hearing from you!

Thanks, Coreene! Want to win your choice of Coreene’s Dragonfury novels? Just leave a comment and tell us if you’ve read a dragon book and, if so, what’s your favorite?

Up to five entries possible: +1 for comment, +1 for blog follow, +1 for Twitter follow, +1 for a Tweet or RT about the contest, +1 for a Facebook follow. Contests end at midnight CDT U.S. on Saturday.